It's the season for giving gifts ... and for returning some of those gifts. ;) The New York Times (click
here for the article in its entirety) has an article with some {commonsense} advice about the returning of purchases this year.
Nice Gift, but Ask if You Can Return It
By Tara Siegel Bernard
December 18, 2009
So you think you’ve picked out the perfect gift for your loved one. But there’s one more thing you should consider: how hard will it be to return it?
Before you take out your credit card, take the time to closely read the fine print of the store’s return policy, or ask about it, because there is a huge gulf between the most generous and the most restrictive. And do not assume that the stores you shopped in last year have the same return policies this season. About 17 percent of retailers have tightened their holiday policies this year, according to the National Retail Federation.
Many of the retailers that have changed their rules have good reason: the industry will lose an estimated $2.7 billion during the holidays because of return fraud and about $9.6 billion for the year, according to the federation, a retail trade group. Scam artists produce fake receipts, or they take advantage of stores with lenient policies, steal large quantities of merchandise and then return them without a receipt.
“Generally speaking, a store can set up any return policy it wants,” said Edgar Dworsky, a consumer lawyer and founder of ConsumerWorld.org, a consumer resource guide. But the policy does have to be clearly disclosed.
There are a handful of stores whose liberal return policies are renowned, Nordstrom and Lands’ End among them. Lands’ End likes to point to the old-fashioned London taxi featured on its 1984 catalog cover, which it sold for $19,000 that year. More than two decades later, the customer asked for a refund, and Lands’ End returned the whole $19,000. The black cab lives in Lands’ End’s warehouse today, as a testament to its lenient policy. ...
The following tips will help you navigate the various rules of return, both online and off.
DON’T ASSUME If you purchased something online, it does not necessarily mean you can return it to the retailer’s physical location. Many big stores, like J. Crew, will take back anything purchased online, but others... will not...
DO YOUR HOMEWORK Whether you’re shopping online or in a store, be sure to check the various return policies on the retailer’s Web site or at the cash register. ...
KNOW THE RESTRICTIONS It’s often impossible to get cash back, especially if you’re returning a gift. Many retailers will provide refunds only to the person who originally made the purchase, while gift recipients— even if you have a gift receipt— can only make exchanges for merchandise, or receive a store credit or gift card. ...
CHECK YOUR CARD’S POLICY Several credit cards offer little-known but highly useful benefits that allow you to secure a refund when a retailer will not grant one, as long as you made the purchase with that card. ...
KEEP RECEIPTS This is obvious. Get a folder, toss all your receipts inside and keep them, even long after you’ve handed out your holiday gifts. If you or the gift recipient end up dissatisfied with an item and the retailer refuses to take it back, you may need the receipt to apply for a refund from your credit card company.
There is another article over at the New York Times (click
here for the article in its entirety) that sums up J.Crew's return policy (click
here) quite nicely.
J.CREW Allows 60 days for refunds with an original receipt; refunds will be made in original form of payment (you need a government-issued ID to get cash back with a receipt). If you don’t have a receipt, you’ll also need ID, and can make an exchange or receive merchandise credit based on the current selling price. Gift receipts are good for merchandise credit or exchanges. After 60 days, you can still make an exchange or receive a credit for the price at the time of sale if you have the original receipt, or for the current selling price if you don’t have the original receipt. Merchandise purchased online can be returned to stores.
J.Crew has one of the better return policies of the retail industry. If the item is defective, J.Crew takes it back with no questions (as they should). I have also found that J.Crew will accept returns for "final sale" items, as long as there's a good reason of course. Like if the item is defective (for example, a belt is missing one of its jewel pieces) or if the item doesn't fit like it should (for example, I am always a size 2 in outerwear, but for some reason one of the coats is too big in the size 2).
Are there any pieces of advice you would share to fellow JCAs when it comes to J.Crew's return policy?
This past weekend I overhead a J.Crew customer talking to a store associate about how upset she was to not know about the change in return policy. (For more about those changes, refer to the "News About J.Crew's Return Policy {follow up}" post.)
